Family
by amy1oM
Summary: Season 5... What if Sydney had decided to go see Jack instead of talking with him on the phone? A ‘whatif’ possibly missing scene from 5x08 ‘Bob’
1. 1 of 2: Extended Family

**Family 1/2  
By** Lomeinie

**Rating:** G  
**Spoilers:** Up to Season 5x08 'Bob'

**Summary:** What if Sydney had decided to go see Jack instead of talking with him on the phone? (A 'what-if' possibly missing scene from 5x07 'Bob')

**Disclaimers:**

**Author's Note:** As always, this story is unbetaed and if by any chance I can have a beta to go over it, I will update again in the future with the corrected, betaed version!

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**Chapter 1: Extended Family**

Sydney was waiting at the entrance of APO when the rescue team returned from Tunisia. Grace was the first agent she saw enter with Rachel close behind. Surprisingly they seemed to be locked in some sort of conversation, causing Tom to merely nod while Rachel just smiled as they passed her in the corridor. It wasn't much of a surprise that Sark hadn't returned with them as Dixon was the last one to enter. When Dixon stopped to talk to her, Sydney hugged him in gratitude before he could speak a word.

"Thank you," she said simply before she pulled away from him. Sydney knew she should have been thanking everyone who went to Tunisia to rescue her dad. It wasn't as though she were less grateful to them but it was different with Dixon. Although he had never spoken the word promise aloud, back in the days of their SD-6 partnership she had learned to read Dixon well enough to know when he was promising her something. Yes, he had promised her that she wasn't going to lose her father aloud, but the promise he had made to her that Jack would could home safely was made with a mere glance between them as the team had left.

Dixon just nodded an acknowledgement, but he answered the question he knew she was going to ask, "Your dad went home, straight from the airport."

Concern crossed Sydney's face, "Is he all right?"

"He's fine, Syd," Dixon said, "Masari's people roughed him up a little, that's all."

Sydney had known him to long no to know when he was holding something back from her, "What are you _not_ telling me?"

Dixon sighed, "Jack's got a few scratches and probably some bruises but his MI:6 contact was shot in the left hand by Masari himself," Dixon answered. "Let me guess, it was an apparent attempt to get my Dad and Elizabeth to say who they were working for," Sydney said. Inwardly she cringed as she knew her father didn't easily trust many people and she knew he _did_ trust Elizabeth. And somehow she sensed her father considered Elizabeth more than a friend.

"Apparently," Dixon confirmed for her, "She'll have to have surgery on her hand and will probably have undergo physical therapy but she's going to be okay too." When his former partner didn't say anything for the next few seconds Dixon did, "Why don't you head on out for the day, Syd? I think we can cover things here." He knew she wouldn't be able to really rest until she had seen for herself that Jack was okay.

Sydney looked at him, "Are you sure?"

Dixon nodded, "Yes, I am. Now go on and get out of here."

With a smile, Sydney nodded before turning around to go quickly gather her things from her desk before hurrying out of the door of APO. She took out her cell phone and had started to dial her dad's number. Then she decided against letting him know she was coming and instead returned the now off phone to her purse.


	2. 2 of 2: Father and Daughter

**Chapter 2:** Father and Daughter

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Jack knew he should have went into APO to see Sydney, but a combination of the long flight home and the last of the adrenaline wearing out of his system, Jack decided it would be best if he went straight home. He would call Sydney from there and reassure her that he was all right before going to bed.

Since APO was closer to the airport than his apartment, Jack calculated the appropriate amount of time it would take the team to arrive there. So he waited until he was just walking into the building to dial Sydney's number on his cell, and hit the disconnect when he reached her voicemail. He tried dialing her cell a few more times, each time getting her voice mail before he tried dialing her phone at APO.

The phone rang numerous times before someone finally picked up with, "Marshall Flinkman."

"Marshall, why are _you_ answering Sydney's phone?"

"Jack...uh Mr. Bristow... er, Director, sir, I'm not actually answering Sydney's... er, Agent Bristow's phone... because your call has been rerouted after so many unanswered rings... because remember you asked me to program the system for all incoming calls to be re–"

"Marshall," Jack finally interrupted, unwilling to listen to his rambling any further, "Just find Sydney and tell her she has a phone call." He assumed that Sydney just wasn't at her desk.

"Sorry no can do," Marshall replied, "She's already left for the day... hello?"

The very moment Marshall had said Sydney had already left for the day, Jack disconnected the call with the realization that most likely she was now on her way there to see him. After taking into consideration how much longer it would take Sydney to reach him from APO, Jack decided to take a quick shower so he'd be more presentable when his daughter arrived. Jack had just finished toweling off from his shower and pulling on a sweatshirt with matching pants when he heard a knock at his front door.

After making a quick stop to pick up some takeout so they could have dinner together, Sydney drove straight to her dad's apartment. After she had parked, she delayed going up only long enough to grab the food bag. She stopped briefly to talk to the night watch security guard at the building's front desk, thankful the guard recognized her from last year when she and Vaughn had come here looking for Jack after he had been missing for two days.

Finally arriving at #301, Sydney placed the food bag on the floor and began to knock on the door with the hopes that her dad didn't go straight to bed once he had gotten home. It wasn't a minute after she had began knocking that the door opened and Sydney launched herself with a half sob of "Daddy!" into Jack's arms.

Jack, for his part, wasn't so much surprised by the fact she had instantly enveloped him in a hug so much as he was by the speed in which she moved. With his arms wrapped around his daughter, Jack closed his eyes, reveling in her display of affection, which he gladly returned. Jack made no movements to end the hug Sydney initiated, instead choosing to let her make the move to pull back when she was ready.

She had had such a hard year this year with first discovering she was going to be a mother, and then shortly afterwards she had had to watch the love of her life die in the aftermath of the bullet wounds his murderers had inflicted on him with the knowledge that there was nothing she could do to save Vaughn's life. More than ever Jack knew that he had to be there, take an active part in her life if she was going to survive losing the man she had loved for the second time.

At first after Vaughn's death, Sydney had all but pushed him away completely as she focused on finding Vaughn's killers. She seemed to be on automated mode, rarely showing any emotions outside of anger or frustration. He certainly never saw any genuine evidence that she had even ever really grieved for Vaughn in anyway. It had been hard for Jack but he didn't push Sydney or try to force his way into her life even when all he wanted more than anything was to help her get through this.

Jack was brought out his musings when he felt something wet soak through his sweatshirt and he realized that Sydney was crying, hard. Jack began to rub small circles on her back before saying, "I'm all right, sweetheart. I'm all right."

After she felt calmer, Sydney had finally pulled away after a few minutes, wiping her face and grinning awkwardly as she said, "I'm sorry to be so emotional but you really scared me this time, Dad! Dixon wouldn't let me let help rescue you and I don't know what I would have done if something had happened, if I couldn't have been there with you."

"Dixon was right not to let you be involved because it is exactly what I would wanted, Sydney," Jack replied, "You and the baby are all that matters."

"I'm just glad you're okay," Sydney said before surprising Jack with another hug. But this hug ended rather quickly as Sydney pulled back to say with a smile, "I picked up some Chinese on the way over."

Sydney closed her eyes as she inhaled the savory aroma escaping from the carton she just opened. Grabbing up a pair of chopsticks, she settled back on the couch, sitting opposite of her father. She was silent as she watched him pop a piece of steamed broccoli into his mouth before she took a bite of her own. As she chewed, Sydney's eyes wandered over to where a beautiful piano had been added to the living room, and she thought back to the last time she had been in her dad's apartment.

After another bite of chicken Sydney asked, "So when did you get a piano?" Even as she waited, Sydney already knew the answer to her own question.

"I got it soon after my recovery," Jack answered.

Sydney could sense that their conversation had perhaps taken an uncomfortable turn for her father but she wasn't willing to drop the subject just yet, "Why?" Her question as a single word and yet it was so profound if she was at all able to judge the expression of the person sitting beside her on the sofa.

Jack didn't answer her right away, instead taking his time chewing his food, and Sydney remembered being told numerous times as a child not to chew with her mouth full. Nearly three minutes of complete silence passed before Jack answered her, "When you played your mother to learn Liddell's location, I knew on a subconscious level that it was you Sydney that I was talking to and not your mother. However seeing the little girl they found to play you at the age you would have been in 1981 did throw my sense of reality off as she really was a remarkable match for you at that age."

Jack paused a moment as he considered his next words with care, "While I was still recovering in the medical ward, I thought about playing the piano with you again. Of course as I got better and the delusions began to clear my mind, when I could clearly remember the year again, I then understood what had happened. But even after I realized everything in that room had been a farce and the little girl I had believed to be you wasn't you, I was still able to look back on the little amount of time I spent with her playing the piano."

Jack paused, sipping his drink before continuing, "The little amount of time I spent playing the piano with her caused other memories to surf. I remembered that I used to like to play the piano before..."

"Before Mom died," Sydney finished for him softly, and with Jack's nod Sydney looked over at the piano again, "Have you started playing again?"

Jack shook his head, "No, between running APO and dealing with Prophet Five, I haven't found the time or the energy to start playing again."

Sydney could hear the regret in his voice, "Would you play some for me tonight before I leave?"

"Sydney, I'm out of practice –"

"Please, Dad?" Sydney said, "If not for me then for your granddaughter?"

Jack gave in with that, "All right but you'll probably regret making that request."

Their conversation turned to other topics and as they neared the end of their meal, Sydney placed her carton along with her chopsticks side by side on the coffee table before sitting back. Her gaze was intense as she looked at her father, not speaking until the last morsel of food had been swallowed when she said, "You matter too."

Jack's face became solemn with Sydney's sudden switch to a very serious topic and he was thoughtful as he spoke, "I don't know why I should matter to you on any level, Sydney, at least not any significant level."

"And why do you think that?" Sydney asked.

"Because I have never been the kind of father you deserve, Sydney."

Sydney thought for a moment, weighing her words carefully before she said, "I remember I was actually jealous of Francie because her father was the kind of dad I had wanted all of my life." Her had hand began to absentmindly rub her stomach as tears formed in her eyes, "I remember when I was going to marry Danny, I had a conversation with Francie about whether or not I should call you to tell you I was getting married. She thought I was crazy to want to include you because of how I had been let down in the past," Sydney paused.

"If Danny hadn't been killed by SD-6, would you have invited me to your wedding?" Jack asked, remembering vividly how horrible he had been when Danny called him at work.

Sydney nodded, "Yeah, I know I would have invited you because even though we didn't have a relationship then I still wanted you there. I've wanted you to be a part of my life for such a long time and that's finally happened. I actually now have the kind of relationship with my _own_ father that I was always envious of Francie for having with hers."

Sydney reached out across the sofa, grasping Jack's hand, "I love you, Dad, and you matter to me. Don't **ever** doubt it again."

It was already getting late when Sydney finally laid herself back on the sofa. She didn't want to leave, not yet anyway. Not when she was getting the chance to hear her father play the piano as he hadn't in such a very long time. He hadn't played like this since before a time her mother had died in the car crash on a cold, rainy November night.

Music, along with many other things, had been a casualty of that night in the Bristow home, and now Sydney reveled in seeing her father change that.

Sydney watched her father for a little while before she closed her drooping eyes. She had not intended to fall asleep, but the previous night's lack of sleep because she was afraid she might lose Jack finally caught up with her. The next thing she knew she opened her eyes to find her dad standing over her, spreading a blanket over her.

_It's been a long since Dad's tucked me in,_ she smiled at the thought. It was definitely too late for her to drive home now and so she said, "Why'd you stop playing?"

Jack had his hand on a lamp about to turn it off when she had spoken, "I thought you were asleep."

"I was," Sydney admitted, "But I woke up when you stopped playing. Dad, it's been so long since I heard you play anything."_Certainly not since Mom 'died,_ she thought. "Would you play a little longer? Please?"

As tired as he was Jack found himself sitting down at the piano again and before he started playing again he asked her, "Any requests?"

"'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'?" Sydney asked timidly, a combination of sleepiness and nostalgia. As her father began the first notes of the song, Sydney laid there watching him with a smile on her face... okay a grin, and she did so right up until the moment she began to find her eyes drooping close again. _Oh please not now,_ she thought as she quickly lost the battle to stay awake any longer.

However she couldn't have been asleep for more than two seconds when she bolted upright on the sofa. Her hand went immediately to her stomach where she could feel the baby moving inside her and giving strong kicks occasionally.

Her sudden movement on the sofa hadn't gone unnoticed by Jack as he had he stopped playing again, leaving the piano for the sofa, "Sydney, is there something wrong?" Jack tried to quell his mind from coming up with at least a few scenarios as to what was wrong with his daughter and granddaughter. The thought of Sydney giving birth in his living room crossed his mind before Sydney grabbed his hand and pulled him down beside her on the sofa.

"Here, _feel_," she said placing her dad's hand on her stomach, adding with a grin, "Isabel's kicking!"

As soon as his hand connected to Sydney's stomach, Jack felt the strong kick of his granddaughter, and tears flooded his eyes even as good memories also came flooding back. "I remember when your mother was carrying with you. There were many many nights you would literally keep her up almost all night kicking and moving around inside her. It nearly drove her mad when she was really tired and you wouldn't settle down."

Sydney smiled, "I understand how she feels as there are some nights I'm not sure Isabel is ever going to let me sleep." As the words left her mouth, she felt another sharp kick, "See what I mean?"

Jack smiled, withdrew his hand, and went back to the piano, "Your mother used to ask me to play the piano where you wouldn't let her sleep. Get comfortable again and we'll see if a little piano music can help to get Isabel settled down."

Sydney nodded, and laid back on the sofa again, pulling the blanket up back over her. She soon heard the soft notes of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' playing and she closed her eyes with a frown as Isabel continued to move restlessly inside her. The last thing she remembered thinking was that she needed to tell her dad to go onto bed and she would head on home.

Jack played a few more songs after 'Somwhere Over the Rainbow', and as he neared the end of 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' he saw that Sydney had fallen asleep at last. Taking great care to be quiet Jack got up from the piano. He went over to the sofa, leaning over to kiss Sydney's forehead softly like he used to do when she was a little girl saying softly, "Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you too." before he turned out the room's lights and went to bed.

**Fin**

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Please note I hope I did justice to Marshall during the small part he plays in this story – I've never written for him before and I wonder if I got his babbling voice right.

Part of my dialogue above was taken from the actual episode itself. Also, I am so sorry it took me so long to get this part written and posted...

If you've not read Chapter 1 of my story you can find it here.


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